AAP convener and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal resigned from his post on Tuesday, submitting his formal resignation to Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena. The resignation was submitted to Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena at 4.30 pm. Kejriwal was accompanied by his cabinet colleague, Saurabh Bharadwaj, as he arrived at the LG Secretariat. AAP leader Atishi, selected earlier in the day as his successor during a legislature party was also present alongside him. Up next, the LG will forward Kejriwal's resignation letter to President Droupadi Murmu for her acceptance. He will also send Atishi's letter to form a new government for the president's nod, an official said. Once the resignation is accepted, the LG will invite Atishi to form government and give a date for the oath taking ceremony, the official said, adding that the process may take a few days.
Kejriwal announced on Sunday his decision to resign from the post of chief minister of Delhi. He had said that he would only sit on the CM's chair when people give him a "certificate of honesty".
Kejriwal is a politician who probably likes to catch people unawares. Two days after he was released from Tihar Jail in the excise policy graft case, Kejriwal took everyone by complete surprise when he announced he would resign as chief minister and return only if people give him a "certificate of honesty" in the upcoming Delhi Assembly polls. Ever the politician with an eye on theatrical effect, he also sought early polls in the city.
Clever politics or foolish overreach. The jury will be out on whether Kejriwal played his cards wisely or miscalculated the risk till elections, due in February, are held. But the 55-year-old, is someone who clearly enjoys doing the unexpected.
According to AAP leaders, Kejriwal is likely to focus on galvanising the AAP cadre and rebuilding trust among the people before the assembly polls. The AAP cadre has "weakened" due to Kejriwal's prolonged arrest on corruption charges, they added.
Kejriwal, who is also the AAP convener, is going to hold a massive poll campaigning in Haryana, where the election is scheduled on October five. He may also hold road shows in places where the party hopes to do well in Jammu and Kashmir where the elections are happening in three phases till October one, the functionary said. According to a senior party leader, massive door-to-door campaigning ward wise has been planned for Kejriwal in the national capital.
"Delhi may witness assembly elections in February, 2025. Before that, the party has four months to make strategies and rebuild the trust among the voters of AAP. The party's national convener has the potential to do so," the leader said on the condition of anonymity. A bureaucrat-turned-politician, Kejriwal is known for his knack for influencing people by his grassroots politics and activism.
The party sources said Kejriwal will also tour Punjab to meet the functionaries there to regain trust. The party has planned his road shows and rallies in Haryana. He may also travel to Jharkhand and Maharashtra where the Election Commission postponed the elections due to the inclusion of polls in Jammu and Kashmir.
In December 2013, he took oath of office as chief minister for the first time. Just 49 days later,on February 14, 2014, he quit in a blaze of headlines after AAP's alliance partner Congress opposed his pet project "Janlokpal Bill".
That dramatic resignation was preceded by visuals of him sleeping in his blue Wagon R in the cold Delhi winter as he staged his protest. Kejriwal was not born into politics and chose not to join an established party but form his own from the ground up.
In Delhi, the AAP rode the Kejriwal popularity wave to come back to power in Delhi in 2015 and 2020 winning 67 and 62 seats respectively, practically obliterating the opposition BJP and Congress in assembly polls. In March 2022, the party swept Punjab, winning 92 of the 117 assembly seats.
